So my quest for a perfect everyday bag continues. And I think I just stroke gold! As my Miu Miu Coffer is looking more and more ragged, this Be&D doppelganger might just be a perfect substitute! At around $1000 USD, it’s on the lower pricing end of luxury bags, yet the size and design of it seem perfect. I, especially, love the fact that it has a cross-body strap, which is perfect for those days when I need two free hands while running errands around town. The leather looks nice and durable and while Genesis does have that Coffer quality to it, it’s also much more simple than my Miu Miu. I think…it might just be the one!

Or does it? V Magazine’s photoshoot, featuring a plus-size model Crystal Renn head to head with a skinnier colleague Jacquelyn Jablonski wearing exact same outfits is trying to tell us that it doesn’t. But with various immature comments, criticizing Renn, or even calling Jablonski, who is 5’9″ and measures 32/24/34, “curvy”, it is painfully clear that this industry is not size-blind.

Having said that, a major magazine, showcasing beautiful and healthy girls wearing non-sample sizes, including a shoot photographed by Karl Lagerfeld, who has once famously proclaimed that “no one wants to see curvy women”, is perhaps yet another small step in the right direction. Until then, we have these gorgeous photos of Crystal to prove, that beauty surely does come in all sizes and shapes.

Spent the last 20 minutes of my subway ride listening to some pathetic idiot fighting with 15 year olds about same-sex marriage. One of his arguments was “Ellen DeGeneres smells”. Sometimes I wonder, how humans had made it this far.

Thankfully, the rest of my day was by far better than my ride home! First day back at the office, and feeling chirpy and refreshed, even though still super jet lagged. Got a pedicure with Jo after work, spotted a super cute girl in a super cute jacket at the salon (to be posted), had sushi, and…finally saw the new Holt Renfrew windows dedicated to bloggers!

Loved them all! Jo’s faves were the Sea of Shoes (Not! 5-6 pairs does not a sea make!) and Bryan Boy windows. Mine was Garance Doré. One because I love her blog, and two…the window had Eiffel Towers wearing clothes!!! Enough said.

WHAT I WORE

WHO IS NELIA?

Nelia Belkova is a Toronto-based fashion and lifestyle blogger by night and a financial analyst by day. She loves to travel, read gossip sites, eat sweets, and cuddle up to her husband and her cat on the couch. Read More…